


Alec Lightwood and the Great Pumpkin Disaster

by sarcasticnotsardonic



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec tries his best, Multi, self-indulgent gratuitous malec fic with alec/izzy feels too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 03:35:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcasticnotsardonic/pseuds/sarcasticnotsardonic
Summary: This is ridiculous, he thinks. He's a Shadowhunter. He's fought and killed countless demons. Not only is he a Shadowhunter, he's the Head of the New York Institute. He came out at his own wedding for crying out loud. He's not going to be defeated by a damn squash.Or Alec tries to cheer up Magnus by carving him an amazing pumpkin. Unfortunately, it doesn't go according to plan.





	Alec Lightwood and the Great Pumpkin Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't read the books and therefore have no clue of the weather conditions/seasons - if they exist - in Idris, but for purposes of this fic, we'll assume it snows there.
> 
> Un-beta'd from my un-talented self! HAHA. Comments and kudos always welcome!

Izzy is looking at him like he has three heads. 

"You pulled me out of Ops for this?"

_"Izzy."_

She cocks her head to the side and then back to Alec. "Let me see the design again," she says reaching for the piece of paper. She looks down at the paper, then back up, then back down.

Alec's patience is wearing thin by this point. "Well?" he asks, arms folded.

"Maybe you should go with something a little less..." she hesitates, trying to find the gentlest way to put it, "...intricate."

"So you're saying it sucks?"

"No! I'm saying if you squint at it real hard with the lights off and you're not standing so up close...." _more like if you have a blindfold on whilst being in the next state._

"That it really sucks?"

She hangs her head. "I'm sorry, Alec," she mutters.

 _This is ridiculous_ , he thinks. He's a Shadowhunter. He's fought and killed countless demons. Not only is he a Shadowhunter, he's the Head of the New York Institute. He came out at his own wedding for crying out loud. He's not going to be defeated by a damn squash. 

"Why are you trying to carve a pumpkin anyway?"

"It's Magnus' favorite holiday. He's been so depressed about losing his magic. I don't know. I wanted to do something nice for him."

When he looks at her, there's pity in her eyes. The one emotion he can't stand. He _hates_ being pitied. _Ugh_.

"You know what? It's fine. I'll get another one and do it over."

It's not as though it's an impossible task. What was it he once told Clary? _Impossible just means try again_. This isn't the only pumpkin in the entire state. He'll just take another stab at it. 

He'll just use a larger knife next time.

~~

"Seriously, Alec?" Izzy declares as they stand near the entrance of _Penelope's Pumpkin Patch_.

Look, Alec is nothing if not a planner and so what if he neglected to tell Izzy that after receiving the call of a Shax demon being on the loose he _may_ have taken the time to Google any nearby pumpkin patches?

So what if he also left out the part that he went through another two pumpkins in his attempt to create the most beautiful one for Magnus?

He shrugs. "I figured we could kill two birds with one stone."

"And which number "stone" are we on now?"

Alec glares at her, his regret at not bringing Jace instead brewing. It's just with everything that happened with Clary and the aftermath of being The Owl, Jace isn't exactly the best person to go to with relationship problems. He's got a lot on his plate. Plus, although Jace is his brother and _parabatai_ , he can be pretty parabata-dense when it comes to matters of the heart. Sure, he's 'experienced,' but if Alec asked for his advice, Jace would probably tell him to go buy Magnus a pumpkin pie and be done with it.

Ignoring her question, Alec walks into the patch. He turns around to find Izzy still standing at the entrance. "I'll only be a few minutes," he says, his eyes pleading desperately for her assistance.

"Fine," she says sighing, "but you better hope there's no remnants of pumpkin goo left on my boots after this."

~~

He's so lost in images of carvings on his iPad that he doesn't hear Izzy knock.

"I have those reports you wanted."

"Thanks. You can leave them here." 

He doesn't look up once.

Izzy sees yet another pumpkin on his desk. This has to be the tenth one. She's starting to wonder if she should rescue all the remaining pumpkins out there lest Alec get his hands on more.

Sighing, she walks out and shuts Alec's door behind her and thinks how much easier it would be if Magnus' favorite holiday was one that didn't involve gourd.

~~

He's sitting at his desk fiddling with the knife when a voice makes him jump. "Alec, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"God, Izzy. Don't _do_ that!" he yells, his right hand over his heart, "you scared me half to death."

"Well maybe if you weren't here at 2 am working on freaking _pumpkin_ , you wouldn't been startled."

Alec lets out a groan. 

She sits down at the chair in front of his desk. Her brows are furrowed and her face is creased. 

_Here it comes_ , Alec thinks, awaiting her lecture. As much as he loves his sister, now is not the time. If he could just get this -- dammit. He picks the godforsaken pumpkin up and chucks it into the waste can. 

He gives up. 

"Alec, do you remember when I broke my arm?"

Alec smirks. Of course he does. How could he forget? It was snowing and they were having an epic snowball fight. He remembers how much _fun_ they were having. It was one of the few times in his childhood that he felt like a real kid, instead of a Shadowhunter. 

He's not entirely sure who suggested sledding, if it was him or Izzy, but regardless of whose idea it was, they went. You could hear their roaring laughter for miles. It was maybe the fourth or fifth time they were going to slide down the hill when Izzy proclaimed she was going to go by herself this next time.

Alec was having none of that. No way was he going to let his baby sister do that alone. But even as a child, Izzy oozed of confidence. She insisted that he let her go. She pouted and whined to the point of futility until Alec finally gave in.

He had to admit, she looked amazing on that sled. 

And then she hit a rock and her sled flipped over and Alec felt his heart drop. 

The result was a broken arm and nothing more, thank goodness, but Alec was filled to the brim with guilt. How could he have been so reckless with her? He resolved to stay by her side until her arm was healed. It was the least he could do.

"You slept on my floor for a week _and_ did all my homework in addition to yours the entirety of the six weeks that my arm was in that cast."

"You're my baby sister," he says in such a matter-of-factly tone. "Someone had to take care of you."

"You were _eight_."

Alec stares down at his desk rubbing his temples, doing his best to avoid any kind of eye contact with her. "Well, I'm not eight anymore."

"No, but you're still the same stubborn guy who will exhaust himself in order to make someone he loves happy."

"Magnus would do the same for me."

"I don't doubt that, but right now, what Magnus needs is _you._ "

He fidgets with his watch. 

"What if he needs more than that?"

Izzy smiles. She can't help it. Classic Alec. Always the fixer. "Then maybe you should trust him to tell you when and if the time comes for it."

"I guess I should."

She stands up, walks over to his desk, and throws her arms around shoulders.

"Go home, Alec. Go home to Magnus. He loves you. He _needs_ you."

He takes hold of Izzy's elbow, squeezing it. He doesn't have to verbalize his gratitude to her. She knows what it means.

_Thank you. I love you, baby sister._

~~

It's a little over a week later when he walks into the loft, a rather large pumpkin in tow.

"Alexander, is that you?" Magnus calls out from somewhere.

"No, it's your other live-in boyfriend," Alec teases.

Suddenly Magnus appears in front of him looking _damn_ fine. "Well, then won't he be disappointed that I wore your favorite pair of suspenders?"

Alec can't help but lick his lips.

"You know, I can't help but feel sorry for the guy."

Magnus laughs and kisses him. 

"I see you brought a friend," Magnus says noticing the pumpkin. 

Alec sets it down on the floor. "Oh, that. I know how much you like Halloween and I figured we could carve one together."

"Oh, did you?" Magnus asks flickering his eyes.

Alec shifts back and forth. "I may have tried to do a couple - or like seven - on my own and nothing was working out the way I wanted it to. I'm sorry, Magnus."

Alec isn't sure why he expects pity or disappointment from him. It's just as much as they love each other, and as secure as Magnus makes him feel, there's always that...doubt in the back of his mind. Waiting for the other shoe to drop and for someone to scold him.

Instead Magnus is beaming.

"You attempted to carve seven pumpkins for me?"

Alec lets out a very sheepish "Yeah." _Of course for you, you dummy._

Magnus kisses him again, but this time the kiss is longer. Deeper. Magnus' hands are slowly swimming up Alec's body. Alec's hands start to mimic his boyfriend's, inching towards Magnus' suspenders and holy crap, if he doesn't get those off of Magnus in like two seconds --

"I love you, Alexander," Magnus is whispering in his ear, "thank you for the pumpkin."

Alec laughs. Loudly. He pulls Magnus toward him by his suspenders as he walks backwards towards their bedroom.

Suffice to say a pumpkin is the _last_ thing on his mind right now.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the design Alec tried.
> 
> http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/makeajackolantern.php


End file.
